"There's no way we're letting you get the Titan's Blood!" Luz's voice echoed off the walls of the small cave. Her companions-in-arms stood at her side, ready to fight.
A few days ago, they had received word that Emperor Belos had ordered a top-secret retrieval somewhere on the Knee. After following a party of scouts and abomatons to a remote grotto, they discovered that, rather than a powerful demon or a high-profile deserter as they initially suspected, it was actually a spring of Titan's Blood.
"Oh, is that so?" the guard captain asked, dramatically pointing her spear towards her teenage adversaries. Her underlings prepared their casting circles, forming a firing line of stoic, bird-masked soldiers, backed up by a half-dozen Blight Industries abomatons. The air thrummed with power, as purple and white lights broken by long, distorted shadows played on the walls.
Outside, the wind howled like a discordant choir of wailing banshees, held at bay only by a glowing barrier of magical energy. Twisting gales threw the snow into the air, whipping it into a whirling storm of frigid air and ice. One would never guess that it was actually the end of August—or whatever alternative existed in the Boiling Isles. Luz had never taken the time to learn their calendar.
A fissure rested in the center of the chamber. Jagged cracks and pointed stones lined its steep slope. A pool of water, little over a meter across at the widest and just a few inches deep, rested at the bottom, and a spout of viscous, dark blue fluid bubbled at its center.
Even this small quantity of Titan's Blood could set up a person for life—without even mentioning the potential for an even greater quantity hidden beneath, likely seeped through a breach in one of the Titan's slowly-decaying veins. Couple this with it already being mixed with water, and this was effectively a naturally-occuring portal into the Human Realm—something which neither side wanted the other to possess.
A pair of hobbyist mountain climbers had stumbled upon this grotto a few days prior while sheltering for the night. Upon finding Titan's Blood pooling within, they swiftly reported it to the Emperor's Coven, expecting a handsome reward.
Instead, they vanished in the dead of night.
The scouts were first to attack. A wave of energy bolts streaked through the air like a hail of silver daggers, pallid blazes which illuminated the cavern with their stark intensity.
Amity leapt to the front of the group and slammed her staff into the ground. A translucent barrier of violet light sprung into being in front of her, the projectiles harmlessly shattering against its surface. A thin cloud of glittering dust filled the air.
Despite her better instincts, Luz was enraptured by the display. How did Amity make everything look so cool and effortless? And how in the world—worlds?—did she, dorky outcast she was, ever manage to get with someone so perfect?
She forced herself to tear her eyes away from her girlfriend and nodded to Gus. He traced a large circle of light in the air as she activated a glyph. A moment later, a dense smokescreen billowed out from the glowing symbol, completely obscuring the four in a matter of seconds.
The barrier dropped, but the scouts continued to fire incessantly into the cloud, pulses of white light punching through the mist. They halted only after it cleared to reveal that the four had vanished.
"Where'd they go?" a scout cried, spinning on his heels. They had been told by their superiors that their foes were weak, nothing more than children. However, the number of scouts who returned in casts and braces after combating them spoke for itself.
"I don't know," another responded, calmer. They had faced the so-called "Hex Squad" before, and though they were fully aware of what they were capable of, they believed that their past failures had prepared them for this moment. "Keep your eyes open."
A deep rumble interrupted the conversation, vibrating the ground beneath their feet. Moments later, a massive vine erupted from the stone and slammed into the line of troops. Several scouts were crushed, while those nearest the vine were sent sprawling to the floor. They looked up to see Willow hovering above, Clover's translucent wings fluttering rapidly. She innocently waved at the group, before batting away several more and retreating to the opposite side of the grotto.
The scouts wildly opened fire, their energy bolts striking the walls as the blue-haired witch deftly maneuvered through the air, weaving between projectiles and stalactites with ease.
They were so distracted that they were caught completely unaware when Amity appeared from a puff of smoke behind them, a tendril of abomination clay grasped in her left hand like a whip. Slinking between the enemies with feline grace, she swung it against the Guard Captain's head, enveloping her in the violet sludge.
"Gah!" she cried out, clawing at the eyeholes of her mask. "I can't see!"
Luz materialized at her girlfriend's side, slapping a fire glyph on the captain's tunic. A second later, the paper erupted into flames, sending her ricocheting off the walls and ceiling, before falling to the ground below. She landed with a pained grunt, her spear bouncing from her hand.
Purple light shone from behind. They turned around to find an abomaton bearing down upon them, hands clasped overhead.
Unphased, Amity drove a spike through its glowing core, causing its fluid form to distend before completely dissipating. Its metallic armor slammed into the rocky floor, splashing the surrounding scouts with purple clay, while its power source flickered briefly before going dark.
"Mom really scammed Belos with these things, huh?" she quipped, putting her back to her girlfriend's as they prepared to fight through the crowd of scouts which now surrounded them. While she and Luz had previously struggled to face just one during her mother's initial demonstration, they had both grown far stronger in the weeks since. It helped that her absent-minded father often left the schematics on full display in his workshop, letting her know every weakness and design flaw to exploit.
She and Luz fought in unison. They had a special connection, one which they couldn't ever put into words, but which both had been subconsciously aware of ever since Grom. For that reason, despite the situation they had thrown themselves headlong into—a situation which the "old Amity" would have never let herself get anywhere near—they weren't afraid.
Oh, if only she could see her past self, look her in the eye, and tell her the fool she was.
Luz opened her mouth to make a snarky comment of her own, but Gus cried out from across the room. One of the scouts had adhered him to the wall, before turning their attention to Willow. She fought off their spells with her vine whips, while more scouts approached her from behind.
Amity slid a plant glyph from her coat sleeve. Despite the severity of the situation, she couldn't help but grin as she asked, "Thorn vault?"
"Heck yeah!" Luz responded, a similar expression playing on her face. In perfect sync, they slammed their runes into the rocky ground.
The ground shuddered beneath them, before they were hurled across the room by twinned pillars of densely-coiled plants. Errant debris flew through the air, bludgeoning the scouts around them.
Amity twisted as she flew, forming a spell circle around herself. A streak of violet flames flew from her staff as she completed the ring, blasting the scouts from behind as they passed overhead. They staggered forward, panicking as their cloaks erupted into magical flames.
An abomaton appeared in front of Luz, its arms outstretched. "That's not good!" she shouted, spiraling her arms in a vain attempt to redirect her course.
She slammed into its face, immediately thrust into complete darkness. In an instant, she couldn't see. She couldn't breathe. She could hardly move. Her heart pounded in her chest. The sounds of the ongoing battle were muffled by the shifting layers of animated clay, but she could faintly hear her girlfriend shouting her name. "Luz! LUZ!"
Panic overtook her. She began to desperately writhe about, doing everything in her power to pull herself free. The more she moved, the faster she sank into its amorphous mass, trapped in a slow-motion cascade. It felt like her skull was about to collapse in on itself from the pressure. She instinctively inhaled as her muscles began to grow sore from exertion, sucking in a lungful of moist clay.
Amity screamed, and suddenly, her head and left arm were freed as the abomaton's head was ripped in two. She began violently hacking up violet sludge.
Willow and Amity stood surrounded by the scouts. The latter used her staff to create a hemispheric energy barrier, as her off-hand maintained a wavering spell circle. Dividing her attention, it was all she could do to keep the abomaton inert. Behind, Willow battered scouts with a mass of large, thorny tendrils.
Large beads of sweat ran down both of their faces, but the determined flames in Amity's eyes made it clear that she had no intention of relenting for as long as her body could continue.
A rogue energy blast struck her in the back. She fell to her knees, her spells immediately fading. Smoke rose in a small plume from the point of impact.
Free from her influence, the abomaton immediately began to reform and march towards the girls. As it attempted to step over a small ridge, though, a weak spot of earth gave way beneath its weight.
It collapsed, slamming into the ground at the edge of the crevice. Its body deformed with the impact, freeing Luz's entire torso. However, she was unable to pull her legs from its viscous mass.
Hysteria gripped her as the abomaton's body began to slide down the slope, with her lower half still trapped within. "Amity!" she screamed, terrified of what would happen if she were to touch the Titan's Blood. She clawed against the rocky ground in a frenzied search for any sort of handhold. The rugged surface tore at her hands, drawing blood, but the pain was far away.
The witch scrambled to her feet, her previous stoicism wiped from her face and replaced with terror. "Hold on Luz!" She fired a jet of magenta flames through the mass of enemies and wasted no time in leaping through the breach.
She dove for the edge, thrusting her staff towards her girlfriend's outstretched arms. Luz grasped the wooden pole just beneath Ghost's base and clenched as hard as her muscles could manage. She had grown far stronger over the course of the summer—"weak nerd arms" had become something of an ironic in-joke amongst her friends, beginning after she carried Amity all the way to the infirmary after their impromptu Grudgby match—but it didn't matter how strong she became. Nothing seemed able to stop her slow slide towards the Titan's blood.
"Don't worry! I've got you!" Amity cried, tears beading in her eyes. Her muscles burned with exertion as she heaved with all of her might, but her hands slid along the polished wood as Luz continued to slide down the pit. "I won't let you go!"
Tendrils of abomination clay rose from the jar on Amity's hip, wrapping around her hands and imbedding themselves into the ground, sealing her in place. The clay quickly flowed down the staff, attempting to wrap around Luz's hands, but she simply lacked enough to get a firm grip around her.
Behind her, Willow was being overwhelmed by the scouts. Their sheer numbers allowed them to push past her defenses, aided by her growing exhaustion. Gus thrashed against his restraints, to no avail.
Luz's hands were dragged further down the staff's feline mount, leaving dark red marks on the polished white wood.
Seeing only one possible outcome, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She put on her most reassuring smile as she looked back at her girlfriend. "Amity. It's going to be okay."
Her golden eyes widened. "No! Don't say what I think you're going to say!"
"I—"
"Don't you dare!" Tears rolled down her face, leaving dark streaks along her pale cheeks. Her breaths grew ragged, and her chest began to shudder uncontrollably.
"I'm going to come back, Sweet Potato. No matter what happens. No matter how long it takes," Luz promised, her voice breaking. She lost a few more inches. "El amor todo lo puede."
Her hands slid from the end of the staff, leaving bloody smears down Ghost's wooden face. Her fingers instinctively clawed at the air. Despite the determination in her voice, she wasn't ready to go—if she was being totally honest with herself, she never wanted to go. Sure, she wanted to see her mom again, but never more than a visit, something to tell her that she was okay.
Nothing like this.
The abomaton continued to drag itself up her body as they slid down the rocky slope. The rims of its armor dug deep trenches in the hard earth.
She fell back-first into the dark blue pool. An abnormal heat began to permeate her body. Nausea overtook her, her physical form beginning to lose its substance. Time slowed, as if to ensure her last image of the Boiling Isles was permanently seared into her memory.
Amity screamed on the ridge above, a raw, guttural cry of fury and despair. Her hair billowed dramatically, as if caught in the midst of a whirling cyclone. Violet light burned in her eyes.
She slowly rose to her feet, her face a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. The scouts backed away as she marched towards them. A writhing mass of tentacles formed at her heels. The remaining abomatons were torn apart, their flesh assimilated into her twisting aggregate. She raised a hand.
And then… nothing.
No light. No air. No heat. Only an oppressive void, closing in on all sides. If the doors led into a corridor between the worlds, then this was a tunnel—dark, cold, and desolate.
She entered a state of total dissociation, detached from her worldly being and adrift through the darkness. Time lost definition, as the seconds stretched to minutes, or even hours. Even the most basic sensations ceased to be—a complete lack of feeling, impossible to describe by a mind conditioned to a constant influx of external and internal stimuli. Her consciousness was lost within a completely alien realm, with no body to inform it of its surroundings, or even its own existence.
Doubts trickled into her mind: How long had she been here? Where even was "here"? Was she truly traveling between worlds, or was she…?
She didn't want to consider that option.
A new sensation, as her body was abruptly brought back into being. She was overtaken by the most bone-gnawing cold she had ever known, coupled with intense, flesh-searing heat—almost akin to being sat in the sun with a cool breeze, taken to the furthest extreme.
And then there was light—blinding, painful. The feeling of something prickly beneath her back. Air flowed gently across her face.
Luz opened her eyes to find herself in a field, surrounded by waist-high grasses. The summer sun beat down on her skin. It took a moment for her instincts to reassert themselves, as she remembered to resume breathing. The air felt empty, lacking the energy she had grown accustomed to over the past months.
Standing up, she noticed a strange sort of off-grey dust caking her lower body—the remnants of the abomination clay when deprived of magic. The remainder of the construct was nowhere to be seen.
A plane flew overhead, confirming her fears. She was in the Human Realm. She had no clue where she was, no idea how to get home, and no way back to the Boiling Isles. Her friends were still in danger. Belos was still planning the Day of Unity. And there was nothing she could do.
As the shock slowly left her system, she dropped once more to the ground. She pulled her knees to her chest. She placed her head between her knees.
And she cried.